Big Alligator Closes Park's Suspension Bridge

No that is not the Lucy Park suspension bridge with a lounging alligator and the Wichita River in fast moving rapids mode.

It does sort of look like the Lucy Park suspension bridge. 

When you cross the Lucy Park suspension bridge you come to the Wee-Chi-Tah Trail.

If you cross the bridge and walk a short distance south on the Wee-Chi-Tah Trail you come to a section called Alligator Alley, which has a fake alligator slightly off the trail, supposedly to spook fast moving mountain bikers.

The Alligator Alley alligator spooked me, and I was walking, not moving fast on a mountain bike.

I saw the above alligator suspension bridge photo, yesterday, on Facebook, with no explanation, other than "Bridge Temporarily Closed".

Microsoft OneDrive Memory Takes Me Back To Mountain Biking In Texas

Arriving in my email this morning is another Microsoft OneDrive Memory from this Day that I actually remember.

Though, not on this day, it being a January day. January is not a warm month. 

I appear to be sweating in this selfie photo taken with my antique, long gone, Casio digital camera.

I don't think I have done any sweating in Texas in January, especially at the location of this photo.

With that location being the mountain bike trail that begins in Rockledge Park on Lake Grapevine, in the town of Grapevine.

I have not been on a mountain bike trail since moving to my current Wichita Falls location.

When I moved to Texas I thought my mountain biking days were behind me, what with Texas being a bit scarce in the mountain department.

I soon learned I was once again erroneous.

A couple months after moving to Texas I took a long drive to far east Texas, known as the Piney Woods Region. I was quite surprised to see that the Piney Woods Region looked a lot like the forested zones of Western Washington.

I drove in a park called Tyler State Park. This is a big park. I soon was seeing people on mountain bikes.

And then I came to a big parking lot, located where there were multiple trailheads for multiple mountain bike trails.

I was looking at a big sign with a map of the trails. A couple other guys were also looking at the map. I remarked to them that I was surprised to find mountain bike trails of this quality in Texas, that I thought I was not going to be mountain biking in Texas due to the lack of mountains.

One of the guys asked where I was from. I told him. He then asked where I was located in Texas. Haslet, said I, a tiny suburb of Fort Worth.

Fort Worth? Says the guy. So, you are in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Well, there are many real good mountain bike trails right in the Metroplex, some of the best you can find anywhere. The guy told me to go to a Bicycle Inc. store where I could get a map showing where all the trails are in D/FW.

I did so, the following week, and was amazed to see the number of mountain bike trails in D/FW. Over the years I think I biked each of them, at least once. And some dozens upon dozens of times, like the Rockledge and Horseshoe Trails on Lake Grapevine.

Another favorite was what are known as the DORBA trails in Cedar Hills State Park. Great biking and hiking trails are in that huge park.

Dallas Off Road Bicycle Association is where that DORBA name comes from. There are three loops to the DORBA trail in Cedar Hills State Park, with the third loop labeled as EXTREME.

Because it was not easy. I only biked the EXTREME trail once. On that EXTREME trail I had my one and only in the wild rattlesnake encounter in Texas. A big rattler, off the side of the trail. I heard it shaking its rattle before I saw the snake curled up, ready to strike.

The week previous to that rattlesnake encounter I'd been to the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup, so the rattle noise was fresh in my memory. I think I almost overdosed on adrenalin when I passed that snake, and soon thereafter the trail entered a sort of marsh-like, tall grass section, which greatly heightened my snake anxiety.

But, I saw no additional reptiles that day.

Fort Worth has a couple mountain bike trails. The Gateway Park mountain bike trail was close to my abode, so I biked that one frequently. The Gateway Park trail is a fun one. It has a sort of roller coaster feel to it, in places.

Arlington's River Legacy Park has miles upon miles of mountain bike trails, some marked difficult, which were too difficult for me to master.

In River Legacy Park I had multiple snake encounters, but never with a rattlesnake. Several copperheads, though. And bobcats. Lots of bobcats. And armadillos. Including baby armadillos, If memory serves me accurately I think I put at least one photo of baby armadillos on the River Legacy Park webpage I made years ago.

All this mountain bike talk and remembering how much fun I had in those various D/FW parks, it is making me a bit nostalgic. 

There is a mountain bike trail here in Wichita Falls. I have hiked part of it, accessed by crossing the suspension bridge in Lucy Park. Soon after crossing that suspension bridge one comes to a section of the mountain bike trail called Alligator Alley.

When one Googles Wee-Chi-Tah Mountain Bike Trail in Wichita Falls one finds a lot of websites with information about this trail, including a Facebook page.

A short description of the Wee-Chi-Tah Trail from one of those aforementioned webpages...

"Explore this 12-mile loop in Wichita Falls along the Wichita River. Generally considered a moderately challenging route. This is a popular trail for mountain biking, but you can still enjoy some solitude during quieter times of day. The trail is open year-round and is beautiful to visit anytime".

I think when Spring arrives I may take up bike riding again, maybe even braving Alligator Alley and the rest of the Wee-Chi-Tah Mountain Bike Trail...

Sunday Eskimo Mode In Chilly Windy Lucy Park

Yesterday I was sweltering in a tropical heat wave, or so it seemed, at 80 some degrees.

Today, on this second Sunday of the new year, I was back feeling like an Eskimo in tundra country, with the temperature above freezing, but with a strong wind blowing gusts faster than 40mph, making the wind chill feel way below freezing.

Even so, I layered on several layers and once again made my way to Lucy Park to do some nature communing.

That would make that me, smiling like an empty headed gigglemugger, above. I was looking across the Wichita River, to the bank opposite Lucy Park. The wind has stripped the brush of any remaining view inhibiting foliage, thus rendering a clearer view across the river.

That clearer view allowed me to see the Wee-Chi-Tah Trail, which runs alongside the river for part of the trail.

I have had no desire to ride this mountain bike trail because the parts I have seen look a tad treacherous.

And I am not just talking about Alligator Alley.

That strip of brown you see in the middle of the photo documentation is a narrow bridge spanning a narrow gorge above the raging rapids of the Wichita River. It would seem that it would be easy to find oneself having an accident which ends up in the river. 

The Wee-Chi-Tah Trail is a one-way deal, with directional signage hoping to keep riders going in the right direction, not running into each other at locations like that aforementioned narrow bridge...

Exiting Lucy Park To Wee-Chi-Tah Trail & Alligator Alley

On this morning's long Lucy Park bout of fast walking I exited the park via the suspension bridge suspended over the Wichita River. That is the suspension bridge crossing the river to Lucy Park, you see above.

When one crosses the river one soon comes to the Wee-Chi-Tah Trail. The one and only mountain bike trail in town. I have not rolled my bike's wheels on this trail. I have hiked some of it. If I remember right the Wee-Chi-Tah Trail is around 12 miles long, making a loop. I think. 

I know the Wee-Chi-Tah Trail is a challenging trail, with some locations having bypasses to avoid a tricky section.

Today I walked as far as the Alligator Alley section of the Wee-Chi-Tah Trail. Due to the temperature being no where near warm, I was in no danger of a hostile over-sized, cold-blooded lizard trying to eat me.

I believe the black diamond on the above sign indicates the Alligator Alley section of trail is one requiring an advanced skill level. I used to have a fairly advanced skill level for mountain biking, but years of not honing that skill have rendered me wary of anything requiring an advanced skill level.

Have I made mention of Google Fit before? I don't remember. A couple weeks ago I installed the Google Fit app on my phone. One gets it from the Google Play Store. For free.

Google Fit tracks how many minutes you move, how many miles you move, how many calories you burn, and other stuff. Such as keeping an activity log.

You input your age, weight, height and gender, which I guess is sufficient info to calculate calories burned.

I have tested the mileage and move minutes and it is accurate. For example, it is 1.1 miles around Sikes Lake. Google Fit gets that right.

I estimate if I keep up the current pace by the end of this month I will no longer be morbidly obese...

Reptile Dodging Alligator Alley On Wichita Falls Wee-Chi-Tah Trail

Til yesterday it had been several years since I have mountain biked on an actual mountain bike trail.

At my former DFW location there were multiple mountain bike trails within a reasonably short distance of my home location.

At my current home location in Wichita Falls, as far as I know, there is only one mountain bike trail within a reasonable distance of my home location.

That being the Wee-Chi-Tah Trail.

One can access the Wee-Chi-Tah Trail from multiple access points. My access point, yesterday, was via Lucy Park, crossing the suspension bridge across the Wichita River to the location you see photo documented above, that being the ALLIGATOR ALLEY section of the Wee-Chi-Tah Trail.

I saw no alligators lurking on this trail section. I do not think it likely that alligators venture as far as Wichita Falls. But, I suppose it is possible, what with alligators known to be frequent visitors in the DFW zone, which is only a little over a hundred miles to the southeast.

On my regular Circle Trail type bike rides I don't bother wearing a bike helmet. On a mountain bike trail I feel the need to be helmeted.

I need to get myself a better, more comfortable, bike helmet, by the next time I dodge alligators on a mountain bike trail...

Surviving Alligator Alley On The Wee-Chi-Tah Trail

Sunday I was in Lucy Park, walking beside the Wichita River on the Circle Trail. As I neared the swinging suspension bridge which crosses the Wichita River to an RV Park I saw a pair of mountain bikers on the RV Park north side of the river.

I thought to myself, that must be the illusive Wee-Chi-Tah Trail which I had yet to find, despite looking for it.

I've taken you across the Lucy Park suspension bridge previously, via photo, text and video in a blogging titled Suspense On A Wichita River Suspension Bridge.

So, on Sunday I crossed the Lucy Park Suspension Bridge again, curious to see the trail those two mountain bikers were mountain biking on.

I walked west through the RV Park, looking for a trail. I found none. I walked to the road, thinking maybe the trail directs bikers to the road prior to returning to the dirt trail. I found nothing.

And then suddenly a grizzled old mountain biker popped out of the woods via a slender slice of single track I had not noticed. He biked to me, stopped a second, uttered "this trail is killing me" and then continued on to the east side of the RV Park.

I followed and eventually came to the sign you see above identifying a Wee-Chi-Tah Trail Head and something called Alligator Alley.

I walked a short distance in Alligator Alley. I saw no alligators.

Later, after returning to Internet Access I Googled "Wee-Chi-Tah Trail" and found a couple informative websites.

One was the Wichita Falls city website's Wee-Chi-Tah Off Road Trail page, where the information included...

LOOKING FOR SOME MOUNTAIN BIKE FUN!
Bring the family, friends, mountain bikes and safety gear and try the Wee-Chi-Tah Trail. You'll enjoy 13 miles of challenging twists, turns, descents and beautiful scenery

VOTED THE BEST IN THE STATE
The trail was voted the best urban off-road trail in the State of Texas and is used for the Hotter 'N Hell's challenging Wee-Chi-Tah Mountain Bike and Trail Run.

The Texas Mountain Bikers website had a lot of Wee-Chi-Tah Trail information, and a lot of photos, along with the following descriptive paragraph...

Take the best that every other Texas trail has to offer, throw a little bit of each into one trail system and you’ll end up with the Wee-Chi-Tah Trail. This trail offers everything that makes singletrack fun; narrow, winding, flowing, well-packed, tight sections that require grace to squeeze through, to sweeping sections that allow some nice speed before approaching the next tight switchback or technical feature. You’ll find yourself weaving up and down embankments, even wall riding at one point. You have a thing for whoop-de-doos? No problem. Switchbacks bring a smile to your face? You’re well-covered. Quick ups and quicker, steeper downs? You’ll find plenty. Roots? Log crossings? Sandy sections? Drops? Yes, yes, yes, and yes. You’ll even be crossing a suspension bridge! So what does Wee-Chi-Tah trail lack? Long downhills. But that’s ok; it just means that you won’t find any long climbs, either.

From the Texas Mountain Bikers I learned the Wee-Chi-Tah has several areas where the trail has challenging options, marked via the black diamond method. As in if marked with one black diamond the section of trail is challenging. Marked with two black diamonds the trail is even more challenging.

I long ago learned that when I come to a black diamond trail marker to take the wimp bypass option and avoid the humiliation of having to carry my bike back out from something impossible for me to roll on.

It is currently much too HOT to get adventurous on an unfamiliar mountain bike trail, particularly a trail which is a one-way loop of 13 miles.....